A drone hobbyist in South Africa captures some rare footage of a swarm of bees attacking his quadcopter.
Walmart Turns to DJI for Drone Delivery
If approved by the FAA, Walmart will use DJI drones to deliver products to customers at Walmart facilities and in small residential neighborhoods.
Some 3D Printed Materials Are Toxic, Study Finds
Researchers found that liquid resin printed materials were particularly toxic.
6 Robots to Support on Indiegogo, Kickstarter
A look at noteworthy robots on Indiegogo and Kickstarter that need your support.
Report: Task Force to Propose Free Registration for All Drones Over 9 Ounces
Users will also have to attach a “legible” registration number to their drone.
Toyota to Spend $1B on Robotics, AI Research
Toyota launches startup fund, promotes hydrogen cells, and again partners with MIT and Stanford.
Robot Xingzhe No. 1 Walks 83 Miles Straight Without Falling
Xingzhe No. 1 took 360,000 consecutive steps in 54 hours, setting the world record for distance walked by a quadruped robot. Watch the robot in action.
FAA to Drone Registration Task Force: ‘Think Big, and Think Outside the Box’
Read FAA administrator Michael Huerta’s full opening statement at the drone registration task force meeting.
Elon Musk: Tesla Autopilot Needs ‘Additional Constraints’ Due to ‘Crazy’ Drivers
The constraints will help “minimize the possibility of people doing crazy things.”
1,000 workers produce latest batch of 1,000 Pepper robots
A new batch of 1,000 Japanese-speaking Pepper robots sold out in one minute after they were made available online by Japanese telecom company SoftBank. This brings the total Pepper robots sold thus far to at least 7,000. This was the 5th batch of Pepper bots to go on sale since the launch in June, 2015. SoftBank said…
Google Delivery Drones Will be “Up and Running in 2017”
Google says it’s in discussions with the FAA to build an air traffic control system to monitor drone flights under 500 feet.
Pepper for Biz Comes to Japan
Pepper, which is selling briskly in Japan, gains enterprise apps and looks to global markets.
Compressorhead Robot Band Launches Kickstarter for Album, Vocalist
Compressorhead needs your help to build a front robot that can perform the songs of the new album and interact with the crowd.
Innovation and Monetization
The recent trend is use “monetize” as if it were a verb. Thus, we hear catch phrases like; “monetize new technology”. It is a term that has been coined to obscure the simple nature of making money from a new idea. People use it either to hide the simplicity of the fact that we all […]
Blue Belt Technologies acquired by Smith & Nephew for $275 million
As surgeons develop and use ever-more capable robotic augmentation devices for their surgical procedures, many startup companies are being acquired by global medical device conglomerates. Stryker’s $1.65 billion acquisition of MAKO Surgical in September, 2013 is an example. UPDATED 12-2-2015: Fixes incorrect information about Auris Robotic Systems (see below). Smith & Nephew, a global medical…
Is the robotics industry over-studied or does it indicate a trend?
The number of research reports covering the robotics industry has grown exponentially in the last few years. 53 have been previewed on The Robot Report thus far in 2015. The latest batch of 28 — shown below — brings the total to 81. GLOBAL INDUSTRIAL AND SERVICE ROBOTICS The fact-based backbone for many of these research reports is…